The first week of November, Dan had to go out of town for about five days. Since this was about two weeks before our baby girl was due, I was pretty nervous about being at home by myself. My friend Kristine flew out from Utah to spend the week with me so I wouldn't have to be all by myself. One of the things that we did was visit old Wethersfield outside of Hartford. Every place has some kind of bizarre things, but I think that only in New England would you get a display like this. Historical figures as scarecrows.
Here are Alyssa and Kristine's daughter, Katey. This was Kristine's first trip out to the East coast, so I wanted her to see as many quintessential New England things as possible.
It turns out that most things in Wethersfield were closed because it was Monday, so we went up to Hartford. A lot of things in Hartford were closed, too, so we took a walk down by the capitol building. Here are Kristine and Katey. She made my week without Dan fun, and like she has so many times before, she supported me. And she didn't complain when our planned trip to New York was canceled by false labor. In fact, she laughed at me for feeling badly about it. Love ya, Kristine!
On a recent interview in New Hampshire (or New Hampster according to Alyssa) I had a chance to visit Strawberry Banke. Now a museum, it was the first settlement in the state. The oldest standing building was built in 1695. It is the dark brown house on the right of the picture below, next to the flag. Below is a peek throught the entrance of the children's garden at Strawberry Banke. The town is now Portsmouth. Below is one of the current houses. I was fortunate enough to be in New Hampshire at the peak of fall foliage.
Below are pictures of a church in the middle of town and one of the main streets. If you are ever in southern Maine or the New Hampshire coast it is worth a stop to look at the shops and architecture.
Halloween happens to top Dan's list of best holidays. Unfortunately for him, this year he was leaving for conference on top of having a very pregnant wife. While we always seem to have grandiose plans for celebrating Halloween, we fell quite short this year. But we were still able to do a few things to make the holiday special for Alyssa.
We asked her for several weeks before acquiring a costume what she wanted to be for Halloween. She consistently said "a doggy". When asked what mommy and daddy should be she also said "doggy". Dan and I didn't dress up, but we did have an adorable little dalmatian complete with tail.
This is Dan's handiwork. Several months ago he bought a cupcake decorating book for me. It is safe to say he has used it more than me. He made these werewolf cupcakes for his fellow residents and for his Sunday school kids. Everyone was notably impressed. Some people didn't believe he had made them.
Here we are at the ward trunk or treat. I think she was annoyed that we kept asking her to say trick or treat. But she did like the decorations, and of course, the candy.
A couple of weeks ago we went to the local Fall Festival. We learned that a horse drawn hay ride should always be the last thing we do at a festival. We got to hear "Horsey ride again." over and over. It was a nice day and a beautiful setting. The high school reptile club also provided Alyssa with a fun experience. After a few cookies and pumpkin cider, we went home. Fall is the best season in New England.
It seems like since we returned from the West our blog posts have dried up somewhat. Dan went back to work, I went back to work, and I have been rather sick on top of being near the end of my pregnancy. But we have still managed to get out and enjoy some of the things that we love about autumn in Connecticut.
This first picture is from Lighthouse Point. Alyssa seems to have gotten over her aversion to sand and being dirty. I think she played with her little bucket and shovel for over an hour and a half.
We love Bishop's Orchard. They have various pick your own seasons throughout the year, and a great little store. This is our first visit to their pumpkin patch. After reading a story about pumpkins and Halloween from the library, Alyssa has been enthralled with pumpkins.
She had a really hard time choosing just one pumpkin to take home. We asked her which one she liked. She ran to one close at hand, and then continued moving her way up the row, pointing out about every other one. She was a little sad to only be taking home one pumpkin.
Dan loves to take Alyssa raspberry picking. I unfortunately have not been able to actually go with them, but here are some great pictures of Alyssa enjoying the time with her dad.
The first time they went, she did a really good job of putting the berried into the bucket. Now she tends to just eat them as soon as she picks them. Maybe that's why she is sticking her tongue out, in anticipation of the delicious juicy taste!
One of the things that we did was visit old Wethersfield outside of Hartford. Every place has some kind of bizarre things, but I think that only in New England would you get a display like this. Historical figures as scarecrows.
Here are Alyssa and Kristine's daughter, Katey. This was Kristine's first trip out to the East coast, so I wanted her to see as many quintessential New England things as possible.
It turns out that most things in Wethersfield were closed because it was Monday, so we went up to Hartford. A lot of things in Hartford were closed, too, so we took a walk down by the capitol building.
Here are Kristine and Katey. She made my week without Dan fun, and like she has so many times before, she supported me. And she didn't complain when our planned trip to New York was canceled by false labor. In fact, she laughed at me for feeling badly about it. Love ya, Kristine!
Below is a peek throught the entrance of the children's garden at Strawberry Banke.
The town is now Portsmouth. Below is one of the current houses. I was fortunate enough to be in New Hampshire at the peak of fall foliage.
